Early morning. Quinzel town, outer circle.
The silhouettes of the Sisters of the Moon gradually fade from the sky, allowing the brilliance of Hubert, Lord of the Flame, to reappear before the world. The warm blaze of the August morning sun embraces the earth after a night apart. At the riverbank outside the town, the creaking rotation of the waterwheel at Old Buck's Mill wafts toward us with the breeze, accompanied by the aroma of newly ripened spring wheat from a distant farm.
Outside the residences, the noise on the streets gradually became noisy. The squeaky sound of cartwheel rotations, children's laughter, elderly coughing, neighbour's greetings, spousal bickering, sisterly gossip, brotherly teasing, father-and-son scolding, all various sounds swirled together, hovering around the entire outer circle.
Faintly, the sweet scent of freshly baked bread from a bakery, the meat aroma from the smoked meat hanging in a butcher shop, and the wine aroma from the beer being transported in large barrels on the carts, gradually waft toward us from afar.
All these sounds and scents merge together, signifying the arrival of a new day.
A new day, as ordinary and tranquil as yesterdays.
"Huff, huff, huff..." Like always, Pannis awakes from his recurring nightmare.
His dirty, golden hair of varying lengths shone greasily and chaotically upon his head. His elaborate and expensive clothes were torn and ragged, the once-clean fabric now covered in mud and grime, giving off an unpleasant smell. His slender hands were filthy and black, his nails filled with dirt. His handsome face, covered in dust and grime, was streaked with sweat and tears from his nightmares. His messy beard gave him an indescribably decadent appearance.
Pannis, frightened awake from his nightmare, sat up abruptly without opening his eyes, gasping heavily, his face distorted in fear and terror. His right hand trembled violently, every finger convulsing. Not only his right hand, but his entire body was shivering, as if the warm sunlight and violent tremors could not dispel the chill and despair within him.
"This is my sin." As his panting gradually eased, Pannis sighed deeply and slowly opened his eyes.
The moment his eyes opened, he spotted a figure with black hair, approaching step by step from the abandoned house's entrance, facing the morning sun.
Her black hair casually draped over her shoulders, her slender body wrapped in shining silver full-chain mail. The sunlight, shining from behind, added a touch of gold to her hair tips and enveloped her entire body in a dazzling halo, just like a goddess descending upon the mortal world.
"Have you, at last, come?" Pannis stared blankly at the black-haired figure, stretching out his trembling hand, his voice filled with a hint of regret and relief, "Is this the day of the ultimate judgement?"
"Are you Pannis?" The woman's voice jolted Pannis out of his self-absorbed world. Blinking hard, his blurred vision slowly became clear, allowing him to finally see the female knight who was approaching him.
"Are you Pannis?" The female knight repeated her question.
Upon hearing the knight's question, Pannis gave no response, instead he lay down again on the hard ground, grabbing a bundle of straw to cover himself, making a show of going back to sleep.
"Hey, wait a minute." Anxious, the female knight exclaimed loudly, "We have a question for you."
Shrugging her off, Pannis curled up and covered himself with the straw, closing his eyes again.
"We have a job for you." The female knight stated her demand.
"Employ me?" Pannis questioned back without even opening his eyes, his voice low and hoarse, "For what?"
"Crying Cave, we need an adventurer."
Pannis finally opened his eyes, looking the female knight and the two girls following her up and down with a meaningful gaze. His expression was complex, seeming to want to refuse a few times but eventually nodding in agreement, "Oh, Crying Cave, huh. Twenty gold coins a day, minimum ten days of hire, half of the deposit upfront, if you don't agree you can leave."
This time, it was the female knight's turn to scrutinize Pannis with a critical gaze, "Fine, but you must fulfill your duties responsibly and follow orders."
"Fulfilling duties, following orders, of course." Pannis jumped up from the ground, giving the female knight a thumbs-up. His filthy face broke into a big smile, revealing his yellow teeth, "I always follow orders and fulfill duties responsibly, no problem."
"First, I need to inspect your Adventurer Badge." After scanning Pannis's badge with a small tool, the female knight put fifty gold coins into a small money bag and tossed it to Pannis, "The agreement is made."
"This is the first command." The female priest stepped forward, frowning deeply with a very serious expression, "Clean up yourself as fast as possible and meet us at the Plough and Malt. I can barely stand your current condition."
Pannis bowed slightly, holding his hand over his heart with an air of elegance, of course, if one ignored the mud and smell stuck to him: "At your service, my lady."
"You can call me Catherine, and Lina and Vivian." Catherine turned and left the cozy home: "We will wait for you at The Plough and Malt."
"Your will, my direction." Pannis remained bowed, verbally agreeing, yet his eyes rapidly switched expressions, finally settling on confusion and helplessness.
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"Well, Pannis." The pretty matron of The Plough and Malt greeted Pannis, who had just walked through the door with a smile: "It's tough on you, amazingly you haven't starved to death."
"I don't die of hunger." Clean and tidy, Pannis swung the money bag in his hand with a smile: "The usual."
"Three glasses of Kulan liquor?" The barmaid skillfully filled three wooden mugs, typically used for ale, with the pungent liquor and placed it in front of Pannis: "Finally got some money for alcohol?"
"Of course. Would the barmaid like to join me for a drink?" Amidst the gruff coughing of the large bar owner, Pannis raised his glass and laughed.He drained the strong liquor which could knock out three sturdy men, but his eyes seemed more sober, without a hint of drunken blurriness.
"Good, now you look like a professional." The sound of footsteps echoed from the stairs by the bar as the three members of the Nellie Adventure Team briskly descended from the second floor. They sat down at Pannis' table, scrutinizing the new image of this explorer.
Pannis, now in work mode, looked around thirty years old, with neat golden short hair. His new clothes fit him well, sturdy fabric designed to stick close to the body, providing convenience for the wearer. His hands were fair, fingers slender and strong; his nails clipped short, not hindering any handwork. The messy stubble on his face had been neatly shaved, leaving a handsome, albeit thin face. Unfortunately, despite his smile, his gaze remained as melancholic and oppressed as ever.
"The three formidable young employers." Pannis gave a slight bow, greeting them: "Can we get an introduction? "
"Of course." The female knight introduced her team one by one: "We are the Nellie Adventure Team, I am Captain Catherine, this is Priest Lina and Alchemist Vivian, Vivian is the team's mechanic, there will be many collaborative opportunities between you in the next few days."
"Nellie Adventure Team?" Pannis laughed softly: "Yet no one on the team is named Nellie? Interesting."
"Interesting?" Catherine looked at Pannis solemnly: "I admire the female heroine Lady Nellie from a hundred years ago very much. I vowed to become a role model among knights just like the fearless Lady Nellie. We named our team the Nellie Adventure Team as a reminder to myself, not to forget my vows and to follow Lady Nellie as a role model. I don't find this name amusing, nor do I think making fun of other people's dreams is something a prospective team member should do. As a professional..."
"Sis, let's talk business first, save the preaching for later." Lina interrupted Catherine's rant just in time.
Awoken from her earnest preaching mode, Catherine pulled out a contract from her backpack and pushed it in front of Pannis: "Let's sign the temporary team contract first, then we'll chat."
Seeing Pannis quickly finish reading the contract and sign it without hesitation, Catherine satisfactorily began to introduce the task: "Forty-two days ago, I received a mission posted by an anonymous person through the Adventurer Guild. The issuer believes that somewhere in the Crying Cave lies an ancient human relic, possibly an Alchemy lab. The issuer requires the Life Force Potion located within the lab. There are two levels of completion for this task – finding the entrance to the lab, or retrieving the Life Force Potion. Our goal is to flawlessly complete this task by retrieving the potion."
"How do we determine which of the potions we find is the target potion once we find the lab?" Pannis asked in detail.
"You're very good, much better than the liar we encountered several days ago." Catherine was more satisfied after hearing Pannis' question: "Don't worry, the client provided a detailed guide and identification method. The Life Force Potion is quite distinctive, presenting as a mix of red and green within its container, the two colors spiraling around each other in a unique pattern. Once we find it, Vivian will use the client-provided identification method for the final confirmation. Once that's done, we can consider the task completed."
"You were cheated?" Pannis showed interest and curiosity.
"Don't worry about unimportant details." Catherine avoided Pannis' question unsatisfactorily: "Are there any more questions about the task?"
"Yes, I've been to the second level of the Crying Cave a few times, but I haven't seen any lab. Of course, I haven't gone through the entire second level of the cave. So, I can't guarantee that I'll necessarily be able to discover the lab. If we ultimately don't find the lab..."
"You don't need to worry about that." Catherine waved her hand to interrupt Pannis: "As long as you fulfill the duties of an upper-rank explorer, even if we don't find the lab, your reward won't change. Also, although the contract indicates a duration of ten days, we can extend the agreement as per the original rate based on actual conditions. The task deadline is five months, giving us ample time to search."
"Good, then I don't have any more questions." Pannis, now in work mode, was invigorated: "But may I look at the supply list you have prepared?"
"Of course." Catherine nodded, signaling to Lina to pull out several pieces of paper and put them in front of Pannis.